Tug sinks in Elliott Bay

The 101-foot tugboat Island Brave sank early Sunday afternoon where it was moored in Elliott Bay at the mouth of the Duwamish River, nearly dragging another tug down with it.

The cause of the tugboat's sinking was unknown Sunday. The boat's owners don't expect to determine the cause at least until today, when they hope to lift the Island Brave back to the surface.


		Joshua Trujillo / P-I
	Recovery workers watch helplessly Sunday as the tugboat Patricia S lists mightily and is nearly pulled to the bottom of Elliott Bay by the sinking tugboat Island Brave. The Patricia S was moored to the dock, and the Island Brave was tied to the other tug. The Island Brave's mast is just visible by the splash of water at right.

No one was on the tug when it went down in about 30 feet of water at the docks run by the Seattle-based Island Tug & Barge Co., which owns the vessel. No injuries were reported, Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick said.

The Island Brave was carrying more than 20,000 gallons of diesel in its fuel tanks when it went under. Some of the fuel had leaked before the company's divers could get the tanks sealed, said David Zanzig, port captain for Island Tug & Barge.

It was unclear how much fuel had leaked, but it was a small amount, Coast Guard Petty Officer Kurt Fredrickson said. The spill was contained by booms that the company put in the water shortly after the incident, he said.

The tug sank around 1:15 p.m. just north of the Southwest Spokane Street Swing Bridge and east of Terminal 5. Authorities were notified that the tug was in trouble at 11:48 a.m. The Island Brave was taking water and listing heavily to its port side.

Zanzig said the Island Brave had been securely moored to the Patricia S, another tug that was tied to the company's docks. The Island Brave had been shut down properly Saturday evening around 5 p.m., he said.

The first signs of trouble came around 11 a.m. Sunday when a person driving over the Spokane Street Bridge noticed both tugs listing and called the company.

When the Island Brave submerged suddenly and rapidly, it almost pulled the Patricia S down with it.

A large crane on a barge was taken to the scene and used to pull up on the sunken tug enough for the Patricia S to be cut free, Zanzig said.

The crane was disconnected and divers entered the water to examine the sunken tug and determine the best way to take it out of the water.

"We already have a problem, and we're not going to compound the situation with errors and shoddy work," Zanzig said.

This was only the second time that one of the company's tugs has been in trouble at its Duwamish docks, Zanzig said. A little more than two years ago, the Patricia S took water and slipped over onto its side at the same location. It was rescued before it sank.

Another of the company's tugs sank and was completely lost near Alaska roughly eight years ago, Zanzig said. The company has 15 tugboats and 17 barges. It primarily uses the vessels to haul gravel and support construction projects.

The last tug mishap in the Puget Sound region occurred in October, when an 82-year-old tugboat sank near Port Gamble and dragged another tug to the bottom with it.

One of those tugs, the 91-foot Active, lost as much as 200 gallons of diesel fuel when it went to the bottom at the docks of the old Port Gamble lumber mill, not far from the Hood Canal Bridge.

The diesel spread rapidly across the bay onto beaches at the Port Gamble S'Klallam Indian reservation, but only a little of the fuel hit the beach. The tribe closed the shellfish harvest in the area for a day.

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